News Update 12.19.07
North Carolina
Moore County DAs have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against four men accused of killing a Cameron girl in September. Michael Graham Currie, Ryan Jemar White, Perry Ross Schiro, and Sherrod Nicholas Harrison are all under the age of 21. A fifth person is too young to be charged capitally, but will be tried as an adult.
Elsewhere
Although Nigeria told the United Nations it has not executed anyone since 2002, Amnesty International has uncovered evidence of at least seven executions in the last two years. All of the men were hanged, sometimes without access to lawyers or appeals required by law. The BBC has more.
The New York Times and CNN note a 13-year low in executions, due largely to the Supreme Court’s cert grant in Baze. Still, there were 42 executions this year, 62% of which took place in Texas. Forty states, including North Carolina, had no executions at all.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has come out with its preliminary capital punishment statistics for 2006. Just in time to start working on 2007! Anyway, they have info on, among other things, how many people are on death row, how old they were when they got there, and how they are most likely to leave. (c/o SLAP)
Posted by deathwatch 
